"Thank you!"

I completed a 7 day detox last Monday at the Chapman-Barker unit and I can honestly say, it's changed my life.

The thought of being an in-patient terrified me and being an anxious person anyway, I went into complete meltdown as soon as I arrived (I came straight from A&E, so it was a bit of a shock!)

Within a few hours of arriving on the ward, I knew I was in a safe environment. The staff at CBU are incredible - nothing is too much trouble for them, no matter what time of day or night. My first two nights on the ward, I felt terrible, but the nurses ensured I received appropriate medication, I was checked on every hour (every 15 minutes in my first day!) and clean sheets was provided by the amazing support workers whenever I asked for them (for anyone going through alcohol withdrawal, you'll know the night sweats are not comfortable!).

I can't thank the staff enough for everything they did for me during my stay at CBU.

The ladies I met during my time on the ward were also a huge part of my recovery - I couldn't have wished to be surrounded by a better group of women! Some days it was like we was on all-inclusive holiday the amount of laughing we did sat in the lovely garden in the sunshine - you have to keep a sense of humour when you're going through such an ordeal! The daily groups are also incredibly helpful.

Again, thank you for helping me on my road to sobriety - if it wasn't for the staff and the environment at Chapman-Barker Unit, I'd be in a very different place right now, but instead, I'm happy, healthy and most importantly, sober!

Responses

Wow what a great review of our detox unit! Thanks so much for being so honest and sharing your experiences. It will really help anyone who is in a similar situation and thinking about completing a detox as well as hopefully inspiring people to go for it and change their life for the better.

I’m glad that our staff treated you so well and that the support and care they provided was first class. We really value your feedback and our staff will be so pleased to hear that their thoughtfulness and responsiveness made such a difference to your recovery. I will ensure that your kind words are passed onto the staff in the unit.

If you would like to attend any courses to help with your recovery, our Recovery Academy runs a range of courses that help people to learn about the nature of alcohol dependence and identify unhelpful and unrealistic thoughts and beliefs that contribute towards alcohol dependency.

Some courses currently running that you may be interested in are; ‘Living with Addiction’, 'An Introduction to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy' and 'An Introduction to Motivational Interviewing Skills'. If there's no places left on these courses for sessions running from May to September look out for our next prospectus in October 2016. Visit www.gmw.nhs.uk/recovery.

Thanks again for taking the time to review our service. All the very best wishes for your continuing recovery.